7 Tips for Staying Active Post-Mastectomy

Jul 19 2017

After a mastectomy, getting regular exercise is an important part of maintaining optimal physical and emotional health.

You have prepped for your surgery, undergone the procedure, and are finally out on the other side. Engaging in regular physical activity can boost your mood, help you stay in control of your recovery, and help you build muscle strength and flexibility. Educating yourself on what to do post-mastectomy regarding exercise is the first step to ensuring that you stay active.

1. Exercise Safely

Always check with your doctor before you begin an exercise regimen to reduce your risk of injuries. Exercising after a mastectomy should not cause considerable discomfort or other problems. If you have pain that does not lessen or gets worse, a heavy feeling in your arms, swelling, headaches, tingling, lightheadedness or trouble with coordination, stop your workout and contact your doctor.

2. Practice Deep Breathing

Deep breathing exercises ensure your lungs can handle workout routines and can ease stress, once your doctor says you can begin exercising. Deep breathing exercises involve lying on your back while inhaling slowly and deeply, then exhaling slowly. You should set a goal to practice deep breathing five or six times throughout the day.

3. Wear Comfortable Clothes

Exercise in loose, comfortable clothing designed for working out, rather than restrictive, tight-fitting clothes. If you wear custom fit breast forms, make sure they fit securely during your workout.

4. Try Simple Stretching

Basic stretching exercises help relieve shoulder stiffness, which is common after a mastectomy. Focus on practicing gentle stretches to improve your range of motion and strength in your affected shoulder or shoulders. This can involve holding your hands behind your back and pushing them back or holding onto a door frame and taking a step forward to stretch your shoulders.

5. Build up to Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardiovascular activities help you stay in shape post-mastectomy, reduce stress, and build endurance. They also provide a good reason to spend more time outdoors. Depending on your comfort level, you can walk, jog, or run to engage your cardiovascular system.

6. Don’t Forget Strengthening Exercises

Strengthening exercises play an important role in helping you stay fit and healthy after having a mastectomy. However, you should not do them right after your procedure. Typically, patients are cleared to start strengthening exercises four to six weeks after surgery. To ensure you are performing weight lifting and other strength building exercises safely, plan on visiting with a physical therapist for guidance.

7. Make Your Workout Fun

Listen to your favorite music as you work out, or try different activities to keep your post-mastectomy exercise exciting. Try taking a yoga or Pilates class, learn some new dance moves, or go swimming. Looking forward to your workout and enjoying it will encourage you to stick with it on a regular basis.

What Others Are Saying

A year after Ellen Eddings discovered she had breast cancer in her right breast, after 33 rounds of chemotherapy and radiation at the University of Chicago Medical Center, an irregularity was discovered in her left breast. “I had a bilateral mastectomy in February of 2003," Ellen said. "I thought, why... Read More

A year after Ellen Eddings discovered she had breast cancer in her right breast, after 33 rounds of chemotherapy and radiation at the University of Chicago Medical Center, an irregularity was discovered in her left breast.

“I had a bilateral mastectomy in February of 2003,” Ellen said. “I thought, why me?” Her bilateral reconstruction failed on the right side, and after three surgeries she was at a low point. But a special nurse helped her through the worst of her ordeal, and her four sisters, all from Arkansas, traveled to Chicago to welcome her home from the hospital.

For the next nine years, Ellen made do with off-the-shelf breast forms. She hid behind loose tops, heavy jackets and scarves. “I had to apply the nipples separately and there was often a problem with slippage,” she said. “My breasts looked uneven, and I thought people were noticing.”

The chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Division of the School of Education at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff learned about ContourMed customized breast forms in early 2012. “I called and immediately set up an appointment for a scan at the ContourMed office,” Ellen said. “They were very customer-service focused and set up the scan around my schedule. Within a few weeks of my appointment, I had my ContourMed breast forms. I am totally in love with them – I just put them on and go.”

Ellen’s thousand-watt smile beams when she talks about her life today. She plays racquetball and shoots hoops with her younger son when he’s home from college. She even wore her ContourMed breast forms during a bath at a Hot Springs spa.

“I feel like myself again. I feel attractive,” Ellen said. “One of my students told me, ‘Something about you is different…you look brighter.’”